Scott Williams, swilliams@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Scott Williams The AgVentures complex on Shawano’s east side offers agronomy services, which United Cooperative does not currently provide locally.
Leader Photo by Scott Williams United Cooperative has facilities in Shawano and has launched a major redevelopment of its property at 660 E. Seward St. just east of downtown.
AgVentures LLC, a Shawano-based provider of farming supplies and services throughout the region, could soon be under new ownership.
A purchase in the works by United Cooperative would expand the Beaver Dam buyer’s presence in Shawano County and further consolidate the farm services industry.
Some farmers are unsure what to expect from the AgVentures takeover.
Russel Brock, a farmer in Gillett and a leader of the Oconto County Farm Bureau, said although United Cooperative is a good organization, he wonders if services will change when AgVentures’ local operations come under out-of-town ownership.
“Less competition is not better, I don’t think,” Brock said.
United Cooperative President David Cramer said his group has signed a purchase agreement with AgVentures and that the deal is scheduled to be completed by mid-October. Cramer declined to comment further, citing a nondisclosure agreement between the parties.
AgVentures officials declined to comment, referring questions to United Cooperative.
AgVentures, which is headquartered at 1212 Bay Lakes Road on the east side of Shawano, also has facilities in Oconto Falls and Coleman. The company was formed many years ago through a consolidation of farming cooperatives in Shawano and surrounding areas.
Cooperatives are businesses owned by member farmers to keep their farms equipped with needed supplies and, typically, to share the profits of their endeavors.
Farm service businesses provide farmers with a wide variety of goods and services such as fertilizer, chemicals and seed, as well as sometimes fuel for their equipment, assistance with crop management, and storage or marketing of their livestock feed and other grains.
According to its website, AgVentures offers a full range of agronomy services, which United Cooperative does not currently have available at its Shawano location.
Wes Raddatz, the regional district coordinator for the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation, said farmers who do business with AgVentures might benefit from the deal because United Cooperative is a larger organization with the ability to improve services in the area.
“It could be a big deal,” Raddatz said. “United Cooperative is getting to be a larger and larger entity.”
According to its website, United Cooperative was created in 1936, and through numerous acquisitions and mergers now has more than 50 facilities throughout Wisconsin.
“Our large size allows us to be a one-stop shop,” the website says, “but still maintain the member-friendly customer service and individual attention that you would expect and appreciate from a smaller cooperative.”
From its outlet at 660 E. Seward St. near the center of Shawano, United Cooperative offers feed, grain and fuel products and services. The organization has recently undertaken a major redevelopment of its Shawano complex, including demolition of some structures and construction of new facilities.
It was not immediately clear how AgVentures, a private corporation, would be combined with the Beaver Dam cooperative owned by some 30,000 members.
Adam Kuczer, a farmer near Pulaski and vice president of the Shawano County Farm Bureau, said he recalled when United Cooperative a few years ago acquired a small local cooperative of which he was a member. Kuczer said United Cooperative improved services and modernized facilities for area farmers.
Saying he was unsure what United Cooperative had planned with the AgVentures deal, Kuczer said it was understandable for farmers to be apprehensive about such a large organization taking over.
“They’re a much larger scale,” he said. “Is it good for our communities in the long run? That’s a good question.”